Students in Poll
Happy as Jews,
Israeli Citizens
Right to Differ,
Israel's Latest
Confrontations
and the Issues
Over Security
JERUSALEM (ZINS) — If it were possible for you to be born
again, would you want to be born a Jew? If it were possible for you
to be born again, would you want to be born an Israeli? These
questions were posed to 1,875 eleventh graders in 35 high schools
in Israel, by a team of investigators headed by Prof. Simon Her-
man of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Some 86 percent of the religious pupils and 81 percent of the
non-religious pupils replied they would want to be born Israelis.
Only seven percent of the religious pupils and five percent of the
non-religious pupils replied in the negative. To the question of
wanting to be born a Jew again, 97 percent of the religious pupils
and 62 percent of the secular pupils replied in the affirmative as
against one percent of the religious pupils and six percent of the
non-religious replying in the negative.
Being an Israeli plays an important role among 56 percent of
the religious pupils and 49 percent of the non-religious.
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Weekly Review
Commentary, Page 2
of Jewish Events
Robert Gordis'
'Love and Sex':
A Prescription
for Moderns
Review on Page 56
Begin R etains securi ty pol icy
With
VOL. LXXIII, No. 4 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $12.00 Per Year: This Issue 30' March 31, 1978
U
Editorial Comment
`Traps for Diplomats,'
`Jewish Constituents'
and the State of Israel
American Jewry is presently blinking in the limelight.
Every issue confronting Israel is presently dissected not
from the viewpoint of the Middle East alone but with equal
forcefulness in relation to the concerns the Jews are show-
ing in the security of the Jewish state. And because Israel is
with abnormality referred to as "the Jewish state," Jews
being in the overwhelming majority there, the Jew who
fulfills the duty of striving for security for that nation is
treated as a partner as well as co-religionist and is now
under scrutiny.
The reason for the scrutiny stems from the recognized
fact that every threat to Israel becomes a matter of concern
for Jews wherever they may be. When there is suspicion
that an element in the government headed by President
Jimmy Carter is believed to be leaning towards Israel's
antagonists they have not only the right but also the duty to
protest and to intercede in defense of their fellow Jews who
happen to be Israelis. When there were threats to Jewish
communities in times of crises overseas, American Jews
always exercised the right of protest accompanied by de-
mands for action on behalf of the oppressed and threatened.
Why is the current situation different from earlier ones?
Never before had the charge of anti-Semitism been in-
jected into a situation involving Jewish intercession in
behalf of their fellow Jews. In the present one the term is
bandied around. This calls for added action in Jewish ranks
(Continued on Page 5)
JERUSALEM — The Knesset gave a firm vote of confidence to Prime Minister Menahem Begin on
Wednesday at the conclusion of a lengthy debate over the Begin government's handling of foreign policy. In
a vote that followed party lines, the Begin government was supported by a vote of 64-32, with nine
abstentions.
Begin declared that Israel would stick to its peace plan which, he maintained, was fair and just. He
insisted that it had been acceptable to the United States until Egypt turned it down.
Begin claimed that the Egyptians would agree to Israel's proposals for a joint declaration of
principles once they are convinced that they cannot obtain Israel's agreement to "demands
which we have announced from the start we shall not be able to accept." His implication was that
there might have been an agreement with Cairo had the U.S. not tilted toward Egypt as he alleged
it did.
Labor Alignment chairman Shimon Peres, speaking for the opposition, strongly attacked the govern-
ment's diplomatic approaches and Begin personally for bringing about a confrontation with the U.S. "Not
at the proper time and not on the proper subject."
He questioned Begin's claim that the U.S. originally found his peace plan acceptable. When President
Carter described the Israeli plan as a fair one it should not have been interpreted as an Ameri-
can undertaking to accept it, Peres said. "Begin took
what may have been suggested as a start for negotia-
tions as an accomplished agreement," he charged.
However, Peres said, the Labor Alignment would
not move for a vote of no confidence because the
MONTREAL (JTA) — The International Civil Av-
Americans did not behave properly when Begin was
iation Organization (ICAO) has agreed "within the
in Washington last week. He appeared to be referring
limits of its constitutional responsibilities" to cooper-
to reports that the U.S. was actively seeking to depose
ate with the United Nations Secretariate's Palesti-
the
Begin government. Those reports were vehe-
nian Committee which the General Assembly set up
mently denied by the White House.
last year to promote the "inalienable rights" of the
Aviation Unit to Work
With UN Palestine Group
Palestinian people.
The decision was taken by a consensus vote of the
30-member ICAO executive council after four days of
heated debate in which the United States, Canada,
France, and West Germany objected to the inclusion
of a political question that had nothing to do with the
`1CAO's technical role.
The Premier told the Knesset that there were
points of agreement and points of difference be-
tween Israel and the U.S. over the character of a
peace settlement. He said both countries agreed
on the nature of peace, including open borders
and diplomatic, economic and trade relations
(Continued on Page 6)
Holocaust TV Show
Study Guide Ready
NEW YORK — Some 15 major national Jewish or-
ganizations have produced a program kit of educational
materials to help local Jewish agencies use the upcom-
ing NBC Television special on the Holocaust to spur
programs and projects in formal and informal Jewish
educational settings. "Holocaust" will be aired April
16-19.
The kit consists of five booklets — a Family Home
Viewing Guide, three study guides for grade school chil-
dren, teenagers, college youth and adults, and a booklet
that gives a concise history of the Holocaust, a plot
summary and a cast of characters of the NBC special,
guidelines for using the material, a bibliography, music
that reflects the Holocaust, resources, and other infor-
mation.
Dr. Irving Greenberg, director, National Jewish
Conference Center, states in the introduction that
the fact that the kit was produced by a "pioneering
coalition" of 15 Jewish organizations is itself tes-
timony to the reality that "confronting the evil of
the Holocaust transcends all religious lines or or-
ganizational self interest."
-
The Jewish inter-agency project is being coordinated
Kristallnacht, Nov. 9-10, 1938
(Continued on Page 5)